Struer (aho) – Oral vaccination for ileitis can considerably reduce losses as a result of diarrhoea and PMWS “Postweaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome” in weaner pigs. That is the conclusion of the Danish veterinarian Niels Hjørnholm in the farming journal “Dansk Avls Nyt”.As the pig specialist explained, three quarters of all treatments in Danish pig herds are carried out in the period between weaning and reaching a weight of 30 kilo, whereby the focus is on diarrhoea in weaners and ileitis. According to Hjørnholm, the situation has become even more critical since the development of PMWS in Denmark.The veterinarian investigated the effect achievable with oral vaccination of piglets using the ileitis vaccine “Enterisol® Ileitis” under practical conditions on a pig-breeding farm in 550 sows. The herd had already been confirmed as presenting the ileitis pathogen following laboratory tests. Baseline: The piglets were housed in stalls for weaning once they had reached an average weight of 8.2 kilo. After about eight weeks, the piglets weighed about 28 kg, having shown a daily weight gain of 353 gram on average. During this time, the piglets suffered from diarrhoea and PMWS.The result: Oral vaccination of the piglets with the ileitis vaccine “Enterisol® Ileitis” brought about a marked improvement both in performance and yield and in the animals’ health. With daily weight gains of about 478 grams, the piglets now achieved a weight of 35 kilo within eight weeks. Diarrhoea was no longer observed; there was an enormous reduction in the incidence of PMWS piglets. The rate of animals lost fell to two percent. In light of these convincing results, the “Enterisol® Ileitis” vaccination programme is to be continued.